A unique Lead Acid Battery (LAB) recycling technology to reduce CO2 emissions by 89%, reduce waste by 81%, and transform the battery recycling industry

Project Information

NUOVOpb

Grant agreement ID: 777780

DOI

10.3030/777780

Project closed

EC signature date 4 August 2017

Start date 1 August 2017

End date 31 January 2019

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 1 863 000,00

EU contribution

€ 1 304 100,00

Coordinated by

AURELIUS ENVIRONMENTAL LTD
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NUOVOpb (A unique Lead Acid Battery (LAB) recycling technology to reduce CO2 emissions by 89%, reduce waste by 81%, and transform the battery recycling industry)

Reporting period: 2018-05-01 to 2019-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Lead Acid Batteries (LABs) remain the most economical battery technology. With over 400 million units sold each year, they can supply high currents and maintain a large power to weight ratio whilst being low cost, safe, proven and reliable. LABs are the primary battery type used in high volume applications in the automotive (fuel, electric, hybrid electric), traction (e.g. fork lift trucks) and uninterruptible power supply (UPS)/telecom sectors.

The global LAB market is expected to grow by 59% (2014-22) to €71.6 billion by 2022, with the demand for waste management of toxic battery waste also increasing. This growth will inevitably place great demand for more energy-efficient, eco-friendly recycling methods.

To address this, Aurelius Environmental will commercialise NUOVOpb. NUOVOpb is a low energy, clean, low-cost, scalable method of recycling LABs, based on a unique hydrometallurgical process that transforms spent battery paste into a superior form of battery-ready product reducing the environmental impact of the paste recycling process, consuming far less energy than current recycling technologies. T

The scalability and low-cost of NUOVOpb make it ideally suitable for localised implementation, avoiding hazardous waste transportation. The process will lead to production of superior battery paste, which in addition to the environmental impact can also produce recycled batteries which can potentially outperform batteries made from virgin lead metal.

Our product will be high-quality LAB-ready lead oxide for battery manufacturing and will meet EC priorities by addressing resource efficiency, sustainable supply of raw materials and by driving the circular economy.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The overall objective of NUOVOpb is to develop a new LAB paste recycling process which is energy efficient, non-polluting and scalable. The outcome will be a high-quality LAB-ready lead oxide for battery manufacturing, commercialisation and to produce plants able to process more than 10,000 tonnes battery paste a year and by 2024 operate directly and through licensing of 18 facilities worldwide which will process 490,000 tonnes of waste LABs (6% of the global waste LAB market) avoiding 196,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year, from which AEL will secure annually a €206 million revenue, €54 million profit, which is a 41x ROI for the EC and will create 200 jobs within AEL

During the 2nd Reporting Period, AEL have refined and improved upon the NUOVOpb process to the point that we have successfully manufactured highly refined leady oxides from our process. In addition, the parameters for the successful monitoring of the large-scale reaction have been established, translating the outcomes of the reagent reduction exercise to a scalable, reproducible process reducing further the OPEX cost of the process ; and improving leaching efficiency have also been achieved.

A further key step which has been added to the NUOVOpb process has enabled the complete removal of all paste additives – carbon black, barium sulphate and organic fibres are isolated without destroying their structural integrity. These additives, isolated in their pure form, can potentially be separated and reused in the battery production process or other industries.

As a result not only is our leady oxide purity equivalent to that of the highest quality lead ingot-derived leady oxide, but we now operate (to the best of our knowledge) the only scalable recycling technology which allows isolation and reuse of the battery paste additives.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main innovation of NUOVOpb is the novel process which transforms waste LABs (Lead Acid Batteries) into high-value, LAB ready products via an efficient, clean and cost-effective method. Our technology will transform the global battery recycling industry, which has an expected value of €9.5 billion in 2024.

The significant benefit for end users of NUOVOpb is the 22% improvement in energy capacity and 50% increase in battery life. The higher energy capacity and ability to customise its structure will open new markets for LAB use, by being both LAB ready (a secondary process can add as much as €250/tonne PbO, consuming 350 MWh/10,000 LABs processed) and having a longer life thereby reducing replacement costs. NUOVOpb is also 30% more efficient than producing PbO from virgin lead, and 50% more efficient than producing it through secondary smelting.

NUOVOpb will achieve >60% more gross profit than pyrometallurgical processes by creating value-added products such as LAB-ready PbO and sodium sulphate; eliminate the need to control SOx and NOx emissions with expensive abatement technology; and by producing 5,000 MWh energy that can be captured and used in another part of the system.

Pilot plants in smaller territories and areas where pyrometallurgy is unsustainable, will be successful through processing small quantities (as low as 1,000 tonnes per year) and transport costs will be reduced by being situated close to waste LABs. Operating a 25,000 tonnes/yr plant, which is anticipated as being the average size plant sold, a licensee will see a payback on investments within 10.8 months. On a 10,000 tonnes/yr plant, the payback would be within 1 year and 3 months.

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